The Facades Of The Two Messiahs
by Hoshiro Kamui 217
Summary: Minatos and Lelouch were supposed to spend their lives as normal high school students; the slackers. Of course, things never go as planned, and through an extraordinary experience Minatos remembers many things, while Lelouch gains the powers of the king: Geass. With these two, they were pretty much destined to change the fate of the world...
1. The Mystery of the Demons

"Hey Lelouch!" The addressed purple-eyed boy turned around to face his blue-haired friend. "Oh, what are you doing here Minatos?" The bluenette shrugged. "Nothing much, but I heard that the 'royal highness' is making another appearance today." Minatos waved off the question.

"Really… again?" Lelouch pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Clovis will never learn." Minatos nodded. "Too right. Well… wanna go and do some other… business instead?" The mischievous bluenette smirked. "I mean… I would normally go, but Nunnally will probably chew me out on it again…" That would have been very disastrous for the black-haired boy. But… he just remembered something that could do even worse.

Shaking his head out of those destructive thoughts he mulled it over again. If they didn't get caught, they didn't get caught, so… "Fine. But only if Rivalz is coming as well." Lelouch stated firmly. Minatos' face broke into a grin. "Cool, because he already agreed." The violet eyed boy blinked once or twice before shaking his head. "Always thinking ahead, aren't you?"

"Well yeah. Because you never bother to think of anything like that unless you're playing chess." The bluenette smirked at Lelouch. "Hey. I think of other things too." Minatos waved off Lelouch's rebuttal nonchalantly. "Mmhm." He nodded seriously. "Sure." Of course, the bluenette used a sarcastic tone.

Lelouch's violet gaze twitched at the bluenette before he smirked. "We better go then, before anyone catches us." Minatos nodded in agreement.

Lelouch was not known to be a very athletic person. In fact, he was still the one of the worst students when it came to PE. That's why… Minatos had to drag him.

"Geez! Can't you try to make this ride a little more comfortable!?" Lelouch complained. "So you want me to carry you bridal style after all?" The violet-eyed boy glared menacingly at the fit bluenette before huffing in indignation. "Thought so."

Minatos was the only person able to annoy Lelouch so quickly. He was able to do so within seconds of meeting his black haired friend. On the other hand, Lelouch was one of the only people capable of making Minatos do any work. Despite the bluenette's antics, he was actually pretty intelligent, but extremely lazy. He was the kind of person to sit back and listen to music or play video games every chance that he got.

"You might as well make this ride less painful for me and speed up though." Lelouch sighed. "Ok!" Minato grinned before he took off at top speed, comparable to a ninja and landed next to Rivalz's bike. "That was better…" Lelouch shook his head, getting his windblown hair back in place.

"Hey guys! You ready to go?" Rivalz jumped onto his motorcycle and clipped his helmet on before handing both Minatos and Lelouch a helmet, the same kind that he was wearing. "Who do you take me for?" Minatos quipped. Lelouch merely chuckled before settling himself in the compartment while the remaining bluenette jumped onto the back of the seat of Rivalz's bike.

The truant team sped out of Ashford Academy with all speed, leaving dust clouds in their wake. Unbeknownst to them, an orange haired girl was cursing all of them for leaving during school hours again.

* * *

A hearty man sitting in a well-lavished chair was grinning. His victory was nigh, and the old trash that was sitting front of him could not think of any more moves to make without getting himself a defeat. One move from any of his pieces, and this would be over for him. "The time limit is up. You are now only limited to 30 seconds to make each of your moves."

The old man sitting in front of the smirking Britannian noble was close to resigning before Lelouch and both of his blue haired companions walked into the room. Lelouch looked over at the chessboard before the noble interrupted his scan. "A couple of schoolboys?" The noble sneered.

"Just typical of Britannian nobles, isn't it?" Lelouch glared at the noble, practically icing everything in the room over. "Well, if any of you are going to fight, be my guest!" The noble obliged. "I'll be the one challenging you today." Lelouch smirked. "And I think… I should be able to turn this match around in nine minutes."

The previous challenger hopped out of his chair and ran out the back. Minatos watched sadly as he saw him go. He briefly wondered where the man was going. Shaking his head out of his thoughts, he turned back to the chess match that was soon to resume. "The king first?" The noble wondered.

Lelouch stared passively at the black piece that he just picked up, while a smile turned the corners of his lips upwards. He chuckled a bit before placing the king piece down.

* * *

"Ooh! I can't believe it! The truant trio went out again!" Shirley was close to tearing her hairs out over her underlying worry for the group of boys. Always getting themselves into some kind of trouble. "I swear, if Lulu doesn't stop his gambling, it's going to get him back later!" Shirley fretted.

"Oh, so you're worried for the three of them?" Milly teased. The blonde haired girl was the student council president. An outlandish and outgoing girl that always brought smiles to others around her; that's what she was. "N-no! Of course…!" Shirley started, but was interrupted by Nina, their science whiz.

"Your demeanour says otherwise… Shirley…" The indigo eyed girl whispered. "Ooh! Fine! I just don't want them to get hurt!" The orange haired girl worried. "Does your liking for them go any further than that?" Milly teased.

Shirley blushed profusely before blurting out, "WHAT ARE YOU SAYING!?" The student council president merely giggled in response.

* * *

Jerking of metal and bouncing in the truck that the two rebels stole was less than comfortable to say the least. Not only was this mission crucial to the well-being of several innocents in Shinjuku. "Kallen… we've gotta make a turn here!" Nagata called to the red haired girl. "What are you-?" Kallen's voice was cut off as she was surprised by the sudden swerve that her partner just took.

* * *

The noble stared disbelievingly at the violet eyed boy in front of him. This boy… turned his soon-be-victory into a total loss. "I-I… I resign." Lelouch smirked and took the briefcase of money and headed out of the building with Minatos and Rivalz.

"Uh-oh! We better get back to school!" Rivalz warned as he checked his watch and threw the two helmets to his accompanying bluenette and violet eyed friends. "Yup!" Minatos replied as he jumped back into his earlier position while Lelouch settled himself in the smaller compartment. "You took him down a peg or two!" Rivalz commented, referring to Lelouch's skills at chess.

Lelouch replied. "Of course… though I suppose that the noble's apparent arrogance just made it a lot easier." Minatos sighed. He never understood in particular how the higher ups could become so incorrigible, and racist to everyone around them that wasn't a Britannian themselves. He thought that it was probably just the effect of the Darwinist ideas that the emperor held.

Before the three truants bolted away, a monitor for large announcements woke to life to show the viceroy of Area Eleven, or Japan… Clovis La Britannia. Lelouch was listening to some of the parts of the things that the overly-dramatic prince was saying, blocking out the bits that he knew would be an example to make the news more 'heart-breaking' and overall… sad. Not that he really thought that it was the case from the façade that the viceroy put up.

While Rivalz Cardemonde was pretty much ignoring most of it, only catching the most important parts, Minatos was gritting his teeth in anger. Not that anyone who saw him would know why and would see his angered expression, since he was very apt at keeping his emotions under wraps. The excruciatingly embarrassing and fake announcement made by the viceroy was finally finished, and Minatos took it as his cue to say, "We should probably get going."

The rest of his friends nodded. With a small jolt, the trio were off and driving down the highway.

* * *

"What's the situation?" The viceroy of Area Eleven sighed as he sat back down on his regal chair. A portly man with a monocle made his way over to his highness' side, with hesitation in his gait. "You see… Code R has been…" The man gulped. "Taken…" He whispered. "What!? Bartley… we have to get it back at all costs! Send out the Knightmares!"

"Yes, your highness." The newly known Bartley replied with a firm tone.

* * *

"We must do our best for our highness." The teal haired pureblood that was Jeremiah stated with a tone of finality. "Yes. Let's go." A silver haired woman dressed in dark magenta replied as she pushed the Knightmare frame's key into the specially made lock.

The team of KMF's made their way to the highway that they knew their targets were escaping on.

* * *

An especially fast truck swerved in front of the truant trio, sailing towards the old construction site on the woefully small road that led into the pipe held up structure.

As a result, the truck was grazed considerably by the rough treatment. It appeared to the trio that stopped as a result of the sudden turn of events that the driver may have been injured. With that in mind… "Let's go check it out Lelouch!" Minatos whispered to the violet eyed boy.

"Right." Lelouch and the bluenette ran down to the truck despite the protests of Rivalz. "Aww man… I'm gonna get chewed out by Shirley if you guys don't come back soon…" Rivalz grumbled as they ran. Not that they could hear him.

Minatos climbed onto the top of the truck, holding onto the rim of an opening that led inside to the cargo hold. Lelouch went into the direction of the driver's compartment, and tried to open up the door, but it was then that the driver chose to wake up and drive off in another direction to Lelouch.

However… Minatos was still clinging onto the rim of the hole and he was carried off into the tunnels when he fell into the cargo hold because of the sudden movement made by the truck. In other words… it was inertia being a bitch.

During a clank and a shriek of metal, Minatos saw a familiar girl with red hair and blue eyes pass by him. Was she… one of the terrorists like the announcement from Clovis said? Not only that, but he swore that the girl that just ran by him was that Kallen girl that almost never showed up to school. Supposedly, she was a very sickly girl, and never got the chance to go to school that often. Unless her weak demeanour was supposed to be a cover-up for her terrorist activities?

Now was not the time though. He turned back to looking for a way out when another bigger sound of clashing metal interrupted him and he began to wonder what made that sound.

Lelouch may not have looked like the most caring of people with his dark personality at times, but he was deep inside. If he could get the chance, he would become the kindest person you would meet. Now was one of those times, and was desperate to find one of his best friends with Rivalz's help.

When he began his search for Minatos, he watched a red and orange Glasgow KMF shoot out of the very back of the truck. He quickly realised who those drivers were, and with that he continued to run the rest of the way.

…Only to find three quarters of the way there that his stamina was woefully inadequate.

* * *

Kallen burst out from the truck to help put distance between the incoming Knightmares and Nagata-san. "Let's see how you do against me, Britannians!" She spoke from inside her cell, in an attempt to give her some more determination.

With that fire burning within her, she cut down most of her pursuers with her Knightmare's slash harkens, damaging them a considerable amount before some of them thought that it would be a good idea to eject from their machines because of the extensive damage caused.

It was just her luck that a skilled Knightmare pilot in a Sutherland came to match her in battle, becoming overpowered by the Sutherland's superior specs. It was, after all, the latest version of the common Knightmare.

Still preoccupied by the Sutherland, she wasn't able to stop another Knightmare that was coming towards the way of the truck she was trying to help. "Kallen! We're going to have to split up! We can't have the both of us dead…" Nagata's voice came through her communicator to which she replied with a reluctant 'ok.'

A hit from the Knightmare that she couldn't defend Nagata from rocked the truck, injuring her partner in the process.

* * *

Minatos was still recovering from the sudden force that caused him to fall into the cargo hold. He looked around in the painfully dark area, trying to feel his way to the back of the driver's compartment.

It looked like the truck had come to an abrupt stop, and it nearly knocked him over. Damned inertia! Cursing under his breath, he continued to feel his way around for the ladder that led outside of the truck.

Minatos stopped once he tried to make his way to said ladders when he felt something cold brush by his fingers. It was hard… He stopped wondering about it when he heard the panting of his favourite violet eyed friend. "Oh god… Never… again…" He could hear his breathing from just outside the thin tarp and metal that separated them. Of course, his antics never ceased to make him laugh, especially when it came to Lelouch's lack of athletic ability.

"Hey Lelouch!" He called out from within the cargo hold, and Lelouch replied back, still sucking in air like it was an unlimited source. "Are you ok?" The bluenette smiled and said back, "Yeah… but I'm having trouble finding my way out of here." Lelouch sighed in relief in knowing his friend was unharmed.

"Um… isn't this one of those compartment trucks that can collapse?" Lelouch asked. Minatos slapped his head before finding his way to the button that activated it. "You're right." The bluenette deadpanned at his violet eyed friend. Lelouch chuckled lightly but was stopped abruptly when Minatos pulled Lelouch out of the way of a kick from a Britannian soldier.

"What do you want!?" Minatos growled at the soldier before his black haired friend recovered from the shock of the sudden move that the bluenette gave him. "Wha… Lelouch?" Said teenager narrowed his eyes at the soldier, who began to take his helmet off, presumably to get a better look at Lelouch.

"Wait… I know that voice…" Lelouch muttered, deadpanning at Minatos. The bluenette arched an eyebrow at that comment before turning back to the soldier. "It's really you!" Lelouch's eyes widened almost comically, as he eyed his other newly introduced friend. "Suzaku!"

"Yeah! It's me!" The brunette that was Suzaku smiled. "Um… sorry to break something up but… why do our voices sound so similar?" Minatos broke the moment. "Uh…" Suzaku cogitated over that compelling question before shrugging. "Sorry." The bluenette apologised to his deadpanning violet eyed friend.

Minatos had completely forgotten about what had gotten his attention earlier when he was trying to find a way out, but now it caught it again. There was a strange whirring noise and the hiss of pressurised gas filtering into the air, instantly catching the rest of the company's attention.

The lid of the capsule opened up to reveal… A green haired woman with golden eyes, bound with black clips and a pure white prison garb. Lelouch and Suzaku stared at the sight of the woman.

This wasn't right. Suzaku was sure that there was supposed to be poisonous gas inside the capsule. Not a lime haired girl. Lelouch's thoughts were all in a scramble, not knowing exactly what to think about the appearance of the girl inside the metal capsule. There was only one coherent thought that he could pick out from the mess in his head.

Lelouch approached the girl apprehensively before making a start on opening up the black binds. Suzaku, catching onto his idea also did the same.

Minatos. The thoughts that were once swirling inside his head were being blocked out by one word: Contract. He immediately wondered what this meant before a wave of thoughts overwrote the word. Flashing memories were sailing through his head, recollecting everything that he knew right now, and knew then.

"What is this girl doing here?" Lelouch asked Suzaku with a stern look. "I don't know! We were told in the briefing that the capsule contained poisonous… gas…" Suzaku stuttered out.

"And is how it will stay." The voice of what seemed to be one of Suzaku's superiors echoed in the tunnel. "Sir!" Suzaku ran up to his superior with his helmet in hand. "I was told to believe that there was poisonous gas inside the capsule!" He explained after giving him a salute.

"Are you questioning your orders, private?" The older man sneered. "No sir, but—" Suzaku started, but he was cut off with, "Then… why don't you shoot those two terrorists over there?" The brunette's green eyes widened, a huge emotional debate brewing in his head. He just couldn't kill his best friend could he?

Before he could decide, a pistol was pointed towards the left side of his abdomen. The brunette froze as he realised what was happening. "What!? No!" Lelouch shouted, but it was too late when Suzaku's lifeless body was lying on the ground. "Suzaku…!"

The things that were running through Minatos' head stopped as he soon came to remember everything that he had lost. A gleam of light appeared in his cyan eyes once he remembered what he was. Was the contract that he had earlier back again?

"Minatos!" Lelouch shouted to the bluenette, trying to get his attention. The cyan eyed teen shook his head out of his thoughts before processing what was happening before him. Lelouch and Minatos were being targeted. The bluenette stood up and a low growl erupted from his throat, and it was a menacing growl that Lelouch had never heard before from his cheerful friend.

What was happening!? What could he do!? He and Minatos were going to die here! Was there nothing that he could do? I have to get back to Nunnally. A soft embrace brushed by his lips before he caught a glimpse of green and retreated back into his mind.

"Do you desire power?" A mysterious female voice echoed in his head before he nodded slightly. "I will bestow upon you the power of the king. Geass." Lelouch had no clue what this 'Geass' was, but he wanted power and that was it. "In exchange for power, you must abide by this contract. Do you agree?"

Lelouch muttered, "I accept."

All coming back in reality, Lelouch stood up with a new confidence, with the green haired woman standing just behind him. He chuckled darkly before looking down at the soldiers that stood before him. "We're not just going to go down easy." The violet eyed boy was clutching his left eye with his hand, not that any of the soldiers or Minatos would know why.

Something was telling him, compelling him to do this as he spoke his words of determination. "I, Lelouch Vi Britannia command you…" Lelouch removed his hand over his eye, revealing a cold red bird in his eye. Minatos blinked out of surprise. So, his name wasn't Lamperouge after all… It was in fact the last name that all of the potential heirs to the throne of Britannia carried. "Die." The violet eyed boy waved his hand, and all of the soldiers that were caught in his gaze froze up, and in unison…

They pulled a gun to their temples and pulled the triggers near simultaneously after stating, "As you wish, your highness!" Lelouch deactivated his Geass before turning to his friend and the golden eyed woman. Minatos just nodded, while the green haired girl smirked. "We never did get your name." Lelouch stated.

"Hm, yes. You can call me C2." What an odd name, Lelouch thought. Minatos nodded before introducing himself. "My name is… Minatos Aristo." The bluenette eyed C2 with a spark of curiosity and cautiousness. "And you're Lelouch Vi Britannia." C2 stated as she turned to the violet eyed teen. Said teen nodded slowly. "You are not to tell anyone that, under any circumstances." He stated coldly.

Minatos just nodded while C2 chuckled. "We better find a way out of here." The bluenette suggested, to which the remaining two agreed.

While Minatos was looking for a way out, Lelouch was wondering what happened to his friend. He seemed so much colder, and it was a big 180 from his cheerful personality.

Minatos was thinking about quite a lot of things as he climbed the stairs to what he assumed to be an exit. For example, his name. It was so close, yet so far to his real name. Though, he decided to keep the name for his friend, and because it would be easier to blend into Britannian society with his Greek names instead of his Japanese ones, considering how much discrimination was going on in this time.

It seemed that despite the fact that Minatos was remembering and mulling over a lot of things, he still cared for Lelouch. He still had the memories from this time, so he knew how much fun it really was to be around the violet eyed teen. Which was to say, a lot. But now that he remembered his purpose, he knew that if Lelouch's new power failed them… he would be able to protect him. If it ever did, or reached a limit.

The moments of silence that were shared among the three were broke with the sound of a Knightmare coming into the abandoned warehouse the three had stumbled into after following the stairs.

"Identify yourselves!" A mechanical female voice echoed through the building in a demanding tone. "I command you to come out and show yourself!" Lelouch was flaring his Geass, but it evidently didn't work as the woman who was inside the Knightmare replied, "How dare you…!?"

Lelouch flinched as he realised that his Geass wasn't working. Thinking very quickly on the spot, he tried to come up with a feasible excuse. "My name is Allen Spacer, and this is Ciel Clier. We're both sons of nobles." He lied quickly. "This is Viridian Chrysum, who is also a noble."

Minatos shared a small smirk with Lelouch at his quickly thought up lie. It would give the pilot a reason to try and identify them, and then he would be able to get her with a command. "We have our student identification here." Lelouch added.

"I see." The hatch of the KMF opened up to reveal the silver haired pilot in magenta, who came closer to try and verify us. It was at this moment that Lelouch fired his Geass at her, demanding that she give us the key to her Knightmare.

Her eyes became slightly red rimmed, before she stretched out her hand and presented the key and the password to the machine to the smirking Lelouch. "Thank you." He added jokingly before hopping into the cell of the Knightmare, beckoning the three of us to come closer and try to fit in and onto the Knightmare.

Minatos shrugged as he was the last to hop onto the robot however there was barely any space left inside the hatch. "I'll be fine up here." He grinned at the prince who nodded somewhat unconvinced. With all his training, he would be able to stay on top of the KMF no problem.

"Oh wait." Lelouch pulled out his ringing phone, to see who was calling. C2 chuckled as he frantically tried to calm the orange haired girl, Shirley who was on the other end of the phone. Not that it was working.

* * *

AN: Sorry that this took so long! I wasn't planning on starting this until I had finished my other fanfic, but… You know, interest grew on me and I started writing it again. I know that this chapter is pretty short when you compare it to my other fanfic (8000+ words in one chapter… -_-) but I'm just going loosely by the events in the anime, so they're only going to be as long as the episode events take.

That and this actually came out kind fast. A lot faster than I had expected. Probably because I had a plot line and episode summary available to me, rather than my other fic which is going mostly by ear, FAQ and memory.

Anyways, I personally think this one was much better than the preview. It's unlikely that I'll be updating this very fast until I finish my other fic like I said, so please be patient and review to help get better in the meantime. No flames plz!


	2. A Flash of Blue and a Dash of White

Lelouch quickly pulled his phone away from his ears in an attempt to try and stave off Shirley's rant, until he gained the bright idea to hang up. Besides, when you're in the middle of a ravaged area like the Shinjuku ghettoes… It wouldn't be a very good idea to be talking on the phone while you're trying to pilot a Knightmare.

"Shirley again?" Minatos asked with a smirk.

"You better believe it…" Lelouch sighed. "I'll call her back later…" he muttered quietly before slipping his hands onto the controls of the Sutherland and charging out of the warehouse. During this, Minatos had to grip his hands especially tight around the pieces of metal that made up the strange headpiece of the purple KMF.

"Are you sure you're going to be alright up there?" C2 drawled out. "I'll be fine." Minatos replied smugly, remembering the time when he was forced onto the top of a monorail to try and destroy that Priestess. Just because of the conditions, it was very difficult to maintain a solid footing seeing as the moving monorail was speeding towards another train. Very scary.

"I see…" C2 chuckled before turning her gaze to the back of the violet eyed boy's head that was piloting the Sutherland they were cramped in. That blue haired boy was definitely an interesting one. Although his body maintained the age of a seventeen year old, he was older than he let on.

She figured that her appearance had triggered something in Minatos' behaviour, as he had started acting a lot colder than he was earlier. It was intriguing, and she herself had never seen anyone as unique as that blue haired boy. No. Man.

This man… probably would have been another great candidate if by some decision that Marianne's son actually refused her 'gift' of power. She now began to wonder what Minatos' Geass would manifest as. It would be an interesting experiment.

Lelouch was more pre-occupied on finding a safe place for them to hide out and allow him to formulate his plan of escape. Seeing a relatively intact building, he used the Sutherland's slash harkens to grip onto the side of the building and make his way inside. They would be safe… for a little while at least.

Minatos was busy trying to get his hair out of the way of his cyan eyes.

* * *

Clovis La Britannia rubbed his temples in frustration. None of his soldiers had reported to him about Code R yet. What could be taking them so long? He wasn't ready to find out. He had to find it quickly, and to do that, he would need the best.

* * *

Suzaku's eyes flickered open to the harsh light of what appeared to be the glow of a lamp. He tried to sit himself up, only to find that there was a sharp pain shooting around his torso area. Right… he was shot…

If that was so, how did he survive? That question of his was answered very quickly. "Suzaku, you shouldn't move around so much." A female's voice called from his side to reveal an indigo haired woman with light blue eyes.

"Ugh… what happened?" Suzaku shook his head in order to get his thoughts sorted out.

"Apparently this deflected the bullet that you took." She smiled, holding out a cracked pocket watch. The brunette's eyes widened as he realised that his father's watch prevented his death. That thing. "I see…"

The woman smiled. "My name is Cecile Croomey."

Suzaku nodded slightly. "Um, my name's Suzaku Kururugi."

"Ah, so you're finally awake!" A man in a lab coat with light lavender hair, grey-blue eyes and glasses smiled with a calculative stare. It was no mystery that whoever this man was, he was a scientist. Of what kind, he did not know but he figured that he would probably find out about it shortly.

"To think that such a thing would be able to prevent your death." The man chuckled before Cecile glared at him.

"Lloyd… Have you not heard of a thing called tact?" The newly addressed Lloyd merely waved the scathing remark off before turning his attention back to the green eyed soldier in front of him.

"Now Suzaku… how would you feel about piloting a Knightmare?" Lloyd smiled.

* * *

"Urgh! Why can't they just stop!?" Kallen cursed as she took down another incoming Knightmare. What would they gain by killing all the Japanese in here!? It was just crazy… But of course, this kind of action was to be expected from Britannia.

Ohgi was busy trying to protect a few more fleeing Japanese from coming soldiers, while Tamaki and the others were doing the same. But it was clear that their team was on the losing side of this battle.

Lelouch watched the battle with interest before deciding to call Shirley to inform him of the situation in Shinjuku. Minatos chuckled a bit before leaving Lelouch to his own devices. And to his. Now with the situation that he's recovered his older memories, he wasn't quite sure what to do.

His friends were probably all dead by now since the time of sealing Nyx away. It had been quite a long time since the worlds near destruction by the hands of the bringer of Night, Nyx. Not that the night goddess was in favour of the situation, but she was obligated to try and bring the Fall according to man's collective wishes.

Speaking of which… what has happened to the seal? It was a bone that he was going to chew later, but he was still very curious since the Fall obviously hadn't recurred. Thank Thanatos for that. Not only that, but he wasn't sure of the situation regarding his Personae. Through some training, it would probably be possible to summon his Persona without the use of an Evoker…

But he was only able to summon his Personae during the Dark Hour. What then? As he wracked his head through the possibilities, Lelouch had somehow managed to avoid Shirley's wrath and was able to ask, "I'm just wondering something. What's the situation in Shinjuku?"

"Um… can I change the channel?" Shirley asked, probably talking to one of her friends that were watching something at the same time. "Uh… ok…" She returned to Lelouch with the information that Shinjuku had merely said to have been blocked off. "I see. Thank you." With that succinct reply, he snapped his phone shut.

Clovis probably wasn't going to send out any more forces after this. He might've been preparing for something, something that would decidedly end the massacre in Shinjuku. It was clear now that they both had to get out. The ticket would probably be…

He gazed over the figure of a damaged Glasgow. Despite its disability, it seemed to be piloted especially well… He made his decision. He would need to enlist the help of the terrorists.

Kallen was being cornered by a soldier of the Purist faction, and with her skills it was near impossible for her to fight back against the superior model of the Sutherland, especially when compared with her damaged Glasgow, which was an earlier model to the purple KMF.

She manoeuvred as best she could to avoid the strikes of the stun tonfas from the soldier she was facing. She was still taking some damage, but it was minimal. Though, Kallen would have greatly preferred if her performance was being hindered by the soldier's attacks.

"Go to the west entrance." The redhead perked up at the sound of the slightly scrambled voice that came through her communicators.

"How did you get this frequency!?" She asked apprehensively while she barely dodged another strike from the tonfas.

"That does not matter. All that matters right now is your victory." The distorted voice stated simply.

Kallen gritted her teeth. She had nothing to lose anymore because of this losing battle. She did as she was told and headed towards the entrance as the mysterious voice had said. "What do I do now?"

"Jump onto the train." Lelouch replied as he watched. The pavement to their escape was going smoothly so far. It all relied on that girl's trust, but it was the only option that was available to them right now.

Meanwhile, Minatos was stuck in a trance. He was trying to concentrate on the sea of his soul where his Personae would be lying in wait. Come on…

"Master, you've finally been able to contact us again!" The bluenette vaguely recognised the voice to be Orpheus Telos' voice… "That is right. It pleases me to see that you aren't hurt." Hurt? No. In trouble… yes.

"Hey! Come on! I wanna see my friend too!" This next rowdy voice wasn't something that Minatos recognised, but something about it just seemed very familiar to him. "It's me, Thanatos!" It sounded like him… In terms of personality anyways.

It was nice to know that his Personae were at least there. Now was the trouble of using their powers… "I do believe… your earlier assumption about being able to summon us without the Evoker is possible." Now this Persona's voice was something that he did not recognise at all.

"My name is Artemisia," Artemisia… Mitsuru's Persona? But why did he have his friend's Personae? "I vaguely remember that there were other ways to summon your Personae …To be in complete touch of your inner consciousness and to have the will to maintain our powers in the outside world." She explained.

Looks like Minatos wasn't all out of ammo. "As to your other question, there have been records of Persona users that were able to summon in the real world. I think you can do it." Artemisia informed him with a calm voice, with a touch of encouragement.

Minatos nodded slightly to himself with a smile. It was nice to see that Mitsuru's caring still carried this far into the future, even if he was sure that the redhead wasn't around anymore. He briefly wondered whether his other friends' Personae were with him as well…

New presences gathered in the sea of his soul, filling him up with a warm feeling as he felt all his friends' Personae. "Last thing… by the fact that you are able to look into the sea of your soul already… You should at least be able to channel our powers into the real world without much difficulty. I'm afraid that concentrating to keep us materialised is much harder." Artemisia related to the bluenette.

Even if he couldn't fully summon his Persona yet – not that he would since it would draw to him much unneeded attention – it still gave him a lot of skills to work with anyways. Especially if he was able to use all of his Personae's powers. Add Thanatos, Orpheus and Messiah to the mix, and it was clear that he was going to be a force to be reckoned with in battle even without all of the other Personae that the Velvet Room granted him.

Kallen nodded to herself before jumping onto the running train with a large thud, and moving along it with her landspinners as the Sutherland was unfazed and kept on attacking the red Glasgow she was piloting.

The purple KMF made its way to stop the train's movement in its tracks, ordering his subordinate to attack the Glasgow. To his surprise, the called out reinforcements were destroyed with a well-aimed slash harken.

Unbeknownst to him, Lelouch was the one who fired the slash harkens at the troop of Knightmares. Jeremiah who was the pilot of that KMF was shocked by the appearance of the unknown attacker's slash harkens, but soon realised that it was not friendly fire before realising that the Knightmare that was being piloted was stolen.

He tried to go and attack the unknown Knightmare, but was quickly diverted as Kallen made her counter-attack on the purple Knightmare, prompting Jeremiah to eject from the robot.

"Kallen!" The redhead recognised that voice to be Ohgi's. "Are you sure we can trust him?" The rebel leader asked cautiously. "We don't have any other choice at this point! And besides…" Lelouch's voice popped in through the radio. "I think he can lead us to victory like he said." Kallen replied, her face donning a grin.

Clovis' forces were being destroyed in a matter of minutes in a systematic assault from the terrorist forces. With the rebels under Lelouch's command, they were ripping through those troops like bullets through paper. Their orchestrated escape was going smoothly… the violet eyed boy smirked to himself.

* * *

Clovis' mood was becoming even worse by the passing minute. How could the rabble ever find a way to take out all of his Britannian soldiers this way? It was preposterous! He gave the order to break the encirclement that was guarding him and sent them after the rebels, believing he had the number advantage. How wrong was he?

* * *

Lelouch smirked to himself as he gave out this new order. By now, Clovis had to have been getting increasingly frustrated with the resistance that the rebels were putting up, and it was no surprise to him that he would probably break in all remaining forces up his sleeve into the area, intending to ravage the ghetto in search of the terrorists.

He had anticipated this, and gave the order to get the rebels to retreat underground. From there, they would be able to attack the Britannian forces easily by razing their slash harkens from below, destroying the KMFs easily. Not only did the troops have to deal with that, they were evidently not looking at the places where the slash harkens were shooting out of…

Minatos was busying himself with working out contingency plans if something unexpected showed up. It would only be natural to have something to fall back on. Namely, he would be able to channel his Personae's powers to stop any damage from coming to Lelouch. Invisible Makarakarns and Tetrakarns were probably going to be his main way of offense here, and neither his friend nor attackers would be able to know what hit them.

C2… most of her thoughts were focused on Minatos once more. As much as she could see into other people's emotions, she could not read the blue haired one's at all. It was frustrating to say the least. It was like his mind was too cluttered and guarded, and there were many thoughts coming about in his head. Whether they were his own thoughts or not was yet to be seen by the green haired girl.

With the final slash harken shot put in place, the ground underneath the Sutherlands collapsed beneath them, bringing a majority of forces closer to death. Kallen smirked. Perhaps, whoever this was… they might be just what they needed.

* * *

Was there nothing that he could do? All of his forces were steadily being picked off, one by one, until they all suddenly dropped off the radar. There really was no choice now. "Tell the Special Envoys that I need their white knight."

* * *

Suzaku clasped his hands around the controls of this new Knightmare. With this Knightmare, he would be able to prevent more deaths, and get rid of the rebels that were going through the area per Clovis' command. It pained the brunette to do that to his fellow Japanese, but if this would benefit the world in any small way according to his ideals…

Yes. He would even kill his own brethren. Steeling himself for the mission, he shot the Lancelot out of the base, speeding towards the ghettoes.

Lelouch knew that this operation was going well so far, and they would be able to escape very soon, and perhaps… even get an opportunity to find out about his mother by confronting Clovis. If he was going to do that, how would he convince Minatos to go with him? Hell, even C2? Though, he did have the sneaking suspicion that C2 would go along with whatever he would do, so he was covered there. After all, why would she give him the Geass?

Unbeknownst to the prince that was Lelouch, Minatos had resolved to go along with him. If his ideas would somehow… somehow get Japan back to normal, he would do whatever was necessary. Besides, even with Lelouch's powers he would likely still need some help from the bluenette, seeing how unfit his violet eyes friend was and how his powers also appeared to have some drawbacks of some kind, as useful as they were.

Not only that… but he was still Lelouch's friend. He would protect him at all costs.

"Ugh! What is that!?" Minatos ducked under the head of the Sutherland, catching a glimpse of a white and gold blur sending out slash harkens at Lelouch and Minatos.

"I don't know! But, we have to get out of here!" Lelouch called back, even though Minatos could barely hear him.

Minatos groaned as he realised that they had been found. Not really because they were just found, no. That was old news. It was because he'd have to hold on again.

Lelouch grunted in frustration as he realised that this was probably what had been destroying the rebel forces, judging by how fast the white Knightmare was moving.

The bluenette quickly and silently cast a Tetrakarn to reflect the slash harkens, much to the surprise of the two piloting teens that were in their Knightmares. Right now, Lelouch was just thinking his good fortune and quickly made his way out of the building.

Suzaku blinked as his slash harkens came flying back towards him. He retracted them as they sped back towards him so they wouldn't damage the Lancelot. How did that happen? It was as if some strange forces had just… reflected his slash harkens back at him…!

In Suzaku's confusion, Lelouch and Minatos had been able to escape from the building, relatively unscathed. Minatos was a little drained from trying that Tetrakarn spell. It was, after all, his first time materialising a spell in the real world and it had taken a lot of sudden mental concentration on his part. Even through all that, he was still able to cling for dear life on the Knightmare he was perched upon.

C2 was busy marvelling at how that attack had been diverted. She had never seen anything like it in her history, and that was saying something about how unique that 'magic' had been. She could only come to the conclusion that it was Minatos who had helped them escape. There was no other explanation.

He was the only one with the capabilities to, when you put that mysterious power that she had felt from him into perspective. She had come to that very likely conclusion as she knew that Lelouch didn't have that kind of power when it came to his Geass, and that their attacker was most definitely not going to be the one to put up a shield to deflect his own attack at him. The very thought of that was laughable, really.

Even though Lelouch was still caught up in trying to escape and right now and was trying to ignore the fact that the attacker's slash harkens just bounced back on some invisible shield, he was still thinking about how fast and expertly the pilot had been able to move that mysterious Knightmare. If he had faced off against it… it would have been very likely that none of them would have survived.

With that in mind, and turning the cogs in his mind after thinking about their escape route, he headed towards Clovis' palace unhindered.

Lelouch had stopped off at Clovis' base, contemplating whether he should bring Minatos and C2. C2 didn't particularly care but he was still worried about his blue haired friend and what he was going to do. "Let's go." Minatos almost commanded.

He had never heard that tone of voice from his cyan eyed friend. It was near demanding, just like the prince's voice at times, and it felt like he had gone through this kind of thing before. This didn't make sense because the one who usually led the truant trio's gambling escapades was Lelouch.

Shaking his head out of his thoughts, Lelouch nodded slightly before activating his Geass to make the soldier give his uniform to the prince. All for the sake of surprise since he was going to make Clovis stop his attack and that… would be his last command.

Lelouch nodded as he began to make his way into the building, only to be scooped up by Minatos. "Hey, put me down!" Lelouch protested before realising that it probably would have taken a much longer time to infiltrate Clovis' base if he just went on his own.

"Sure I am." Minatos laughed as he quickly made his way past the guards scattered around. This would be cake he thought. Meanwhile, Lelouch was still trying to figure out how his blue haired friend was going so… fast…

For Minatos, it had been quite a long time for him to go full speed. His training in the past really built up his speed, and to anyone that he passed by, he would look nothing more than a black and blue flash. "We are going towards Clovis' location, right?" Lelouch asked.

"Well… duh. Why else would you want to come here?" The bluenette replied sarcastically before crashing into the room where Clovis was residing with a kick. Minatos looked around quickly before realising that he was surrounded by a group of soldiers, probably to guard Clovis.

Minatos put Lelouch down after a few moments before activating a Sukukaja spell to speed him up, using some weak Cleave spells to take down the soldiers. Even if Cleave was the weakest Slash spell that he had in his repertoire, it would be enough, considering how strong Persona attacks were, especially when comparing them to normal human strength.

Pools of blood quickly filled the room as he went around killing the unsuspecting soldiers before he stopped in the middle of the room in the centre of the carpet that led up to the stand where Clovis was sitting in a stunned state.

Minatos breathed out, still trying to absorb the fact that he just killed a group of people by his own hands. It was sobering to say the least, and he was still stuck thinking about it. It had been a long time since he had tried anything like this, though they were in very unfortunate and dumb circumstances.

Lelouch himself was still shocked from the attitude that the bluenette was showing off. While he too had steeled the resolve to kill those that had gotten in his way, he was still surprised by the fact that Minatos, of all people was the one to do that.

He supposed it was something that he would ask of his bluenette friend later, and approached Clovis' throne. "I have a request of yours. No, make it a demand. You're not in any position to negotiate."

* * *

Back at the ghetto, Kallen and her allies were still discussing the mysterious voice that had allowed them to defeat the onslaught of Britannian soldiers. While Ohgi had been suspicious, and that was no surprise since Kallen herself was still unsure of that voice that had contacted them during their battle, Tamaki was still busy shooting his mouth off about the 'guy who magically contacted them out of nowhere.'

The redhead was desperately trying to ignore Tamaki's rant, not that it was working with how loud that headband wearing brunette was. And somehow… no-one had been able to find them, and the remaining sounds of the Knightmares were all but fading from the area.

Not that the blue eyed girl was complaining, in fact she was happy, but just why it happening anyways?

* * *

"Alright, I've given in to your commands! What now!?" Clovis asked, still trembling. He was being put at gun point after all by an unknown man. "What is your goal? Is this just a game to you? What are your motives!?" Lelouch chuckled before replying back to the confused Viceroy. "My dear brother, I'm a little hurt that you don't remember me. After all, we used to play chess together at the Aeries Villa as we were both children."

What? This gun man was only putting him into more confusion after mentioning the Aeries Villa. After all, it was a place that only members of the royal family and even less nobles knew about.

"My name is Lelouch, dear brother Clovis." Lelouch answered the question that was flying through Clovis' mind with a knowing smirk, as if he knew how his brother was going to react.

"I'm overjoyed Lelouch! They say you died once Japan was brought into the fold. What a blessing to have you back! We should leave for the homeland immediately!" The Viceroy rejoiced, to which Lelouch merely scoffed.

"So you can use me as a tool of diplomacy? It seems you've forgotten why we were used as tools in the first place," Lelouch glowered at Clovis. "I haven't the time for idle chit-chat."

While Lelouch was talking to Clovis, Minatos was busy wondering about the relationship about his violet eyed friend and the emperor of Britannia. It seemed to be very complicated, but overall, it was fuelling Minatos' resolve to take back his home of Japan that he knew back.

"You will now answer all of my questions." Lelouch stated, flaring his Geass into his brother's eyes and sapping all his will away.

"Now, tell me who murdered Empress Marianne." Lelouch demanded with a stern tone.

"I do not know." Clovis answered, almost mechanically. It was probably an effect of the Geass that he had on him.

Lelouch gritted his teeth. How could Clovis not know? "But, Schneizel and Cornelia may know."

The violet eyed prince lightened up a little bit after hearing that. He might have a chance to get revenge on whoever killed mother from his two older siblings. Lelouch nodded to himself before the Geass faded, seeing as he had nothing more to ask of his 'brother.'

Lelouch lifted his gun from Clovis' forehead, letting the other prince relax for a moment before a gun shot rang out in the room.

"Lelouch…" Clovis' pained voice came out before he slumped, dead. The prince left with Minatos in silence, while many disorienting thoughts were brewing in their minds. There was one thing to be certain: Minatos and Lelouch had a lot of a talking to do.

* * *

AN: WHOO! Another chapter finished. I hope some people liked it, and I'm happy to report that it seems that these come out a lot faster than my other fanfic's chapter. Probably because I have a story line to follow, and I can make my own diversions from there. Not only that, but because of the length too.

Tell me what you think of the interactions between the characters, and especially with my efforts into making this a 3rd person view since I still don't have as much experience with it. XD

If there's anything else I can improve, that would be good too!

Plz review and no flames!


	3. Revealing More Falsities

Lelouch was desperately trying to cover his ears from the berating that Shirley was giving him, including things like 'making her worried,' 'could've gotten killed,' and 'being irresponsible' among the cacophony of words that she was spewing.

Lelouch did care, but it was just that he had heard this kind of speech from Shirley so often that he just tried to tune out what she was saying as much as he could. Minatos was doing well to ignore her however, taking to thinking about his Personae and Lelouch among things. Not to mention that C2 that had they had managed to sneak into their school and safely in Lelouch's residence.

He had been wondering why he had reawakened to his powers like he did, and he knew that it at least had something to do with the things that C2 was saying while Lelouch was entering her contract. Contract… yes. It most definitely was that word. After all, it was his contract with the Velvet Room that had given him such immense powers in order to seal away the goddess of the night, Nyx.

There was something in particular that he was wondering now. In order to keep the world from the clutches of the Fall, or the end of the world, his soul would need to be there guarding Nyx against Erebus so that it wouldn't happen. But here he was, obviously back in the real world by some strange forces. Maybe it was just fate being the fickle woman that she was?

He shook his head out of his thoughts as he had noticed that Shirley had left, and Lelouch was staring at him intently. "What is it, Lelouch?" Not saying the honorifics that Minatos was so used to was throwing him off a little. It was something that he was so accustomed to that it was a little strange not calling him anything. Though considering how close the duo was, perhaps he didn't need them.

"We need to talk about what happened in Shinjuku." Lelouch answered with a serious tone.

Minatos nodded, his blue bangs covering up his cyan eyes as he did so. After that, he followed his friend to his room where C2 was lounging about.

Lelouch shot a deadpan at C2 who merely smirked and shrugged, occupying most of the space on the bed much to his chagrin.

"Anyways… I'm not very sure where to start in this whole mess." Lelouch looked down at the smooth floor boards which were banding their ways across under the chair he had sat in.

Minatos gave him a knowing smile before starting. "First you wanted to know why I've been acting so differently right."

Lelouch nodded slightly, with a small scowl on his face. "Because… I'm not who you think I am, as you are not how you appear to be either." Lelouch gave him a sceptical look, telling Minatos to explain.

"My name isn't Minatos Aristo, as close as that name is to my real name. No…" Lelouch's bluenette friend smiled. "My name is Minato Arisato. I'm Japanese, or an Eleven as some other Britannians might put it."

Lelouch's eyes widened as he processed that information. His friend… he had been keeping something like that as a secret? Granted, he couldn't really complain as he had been keeping the fact that he was in fact a Britannian prince under wraps as well.

"And the reason why I haven't told you before is because I didn't know that until a few hours ago. I remembered a lot of things while I watched you and C2 create that contract for your Geass," Minatos explained. "It seemed that her appearance had triggered something and it just made me remember everything about whom and what I was."

"But Minatos… Minato…" Lelouch tried out the new name. It was difficult to try and say 'Minato' when you've been calling him otherwise for a few years. "You can call me either. I've already gotten used to being called Minatos anyways." Lelouch sighed in relief before Minato started talking again.

"Do you remember when that white Knightmare tried to attack us with its slash harkens, and they somehow bounced back?" Lelouch nodded slowly. As much as he had been ignoring it now since he was in the heat of battle and trying to make sure that they were getting out alive, now that Minatos had mentioned it that memory came rushing back to him in an instant.

"That was me." Minato grinned.

Lelouch's eyes widened. His friend was the one who protected them? With his own powers no less… "What was that anyways?"

"I'm something called a Persona user. Personae are the masks that people use to protect themselves… and they can materialise in the real world to protect you from threats or help you complete difficult tasks." Minato explained, as if he knew exactly what he was talking about. It would be no surprise either, seeing as he was probably the most powerful Persona user in existence right now.

"Is that so…?" Lelouch mulled the information for a while. If what Minatos—Minato said was true, then… he could help him in so many ways. Now was the time to try and get him to join his cause… With Geass, his ambition of destroying the Britannian Empire was drawing ever closer… If you added Minato's powers the time taken would become even shorter. But he had a good feeling about his chances of trying to get him to join.

"Why are you telling me about this?" Lelouch asked.

"You now know that I'm Japanese, and you still possess the same hate for Britannia… even if you are a prince it makes no difference to me," Minato grinned at Lelouch. "I want to free Japan from Britannia. You want to destroy them. You've been thinking this through now that you know about my powers. What do you think I'm going to want to do?"

"You're going to join me?" Lelouch eyed Minato with a scrutinising look.

"Of course, Lelouch," Minato smirked. "Besides… if I know anything about you it's that I can trust you. Doing this kind of thing on my own wouldn't be the best thing for me. I'm not as good a planner as you are."

"So… are we partners?" Lelouch held out his hand.

Minato smiled with a determined look boring into his friend's violet eyes. "Hell yeah." He took his hand and shook it.

Lelouch sighed in relief before he enveloped Minato in a hug. "Thank you."

Minato blinked once or twice in surprise before smiling. "It's no problem."

"Lelouch. We have to find out a few things about your power. As far as I can see it does have its limits…" Minato told him before stepping out from Lelouch's arms.

"You're right… it wouldn't do well to charge into all of this blindly. Especially since I don't know much about my power, and I am planning to incorporate it into our plans." Lelouch mulled it over.

"I'm thinking something…" Minato mused. "I don't know if you'll like the idea but it's worth a try."

"What is it?"

"Maybe you can test your Geass on me." Minato stared intently at Lelouch.

Lelouch wasn't all against the idea… but it wasn't like he wanted to use his power of Absolute Obedience on his friend of all people. "Maybe… you can use a different kind of command. Just as a test to see how long it can last." Minato pulled his hands into his pockets.

"Like what?" Lelouch asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well you'll just have to know that I'll follow whatever orders you give to me… so maybe…" Minato closed his eyes as he thought about the command. The one that he was thinking of could screw up a whole lot of things after everything was over… But it couldn't hurt to try. "Live."

Lelouch thought this one command over. He most definitely didn't want to lose Minato. Both as an asset and a friend. But he wasn't quite sure the consequences of the Geass. If he was put in life and death situations, would he run? But considering what he had shown him of his strength, he didn't think that he would be killed easily. Not at all.

"I'll try…" Lelouch lifted his hand off his eye and flared his Geass.

"I, Lelouch vi Britannia command you… live!"

When Minato opened his eyes, he didn't feel any different but there was one thing for sure. He had a better grasp on his Personae now, probably because that Geass was empowering his desire to get out of dank situations alive and his Personae were manifestations of that will. No. He was sure this Geass was a good idea after all. "That felt a bit woozy…" Minato commented.

Lelouch just chuckled. In truth he was still wondering about the effects of that Geass, but he could at least find out how long his power's hold would last.

"Hm… Per…so…na." Minato whispered quietly, and Orpheus Telos appeared just behind him.

Minato was taking note on how easy it was to summon Orpheus. Before that, he could barely muster a spell. A barrier spell no less. But now he could easily summon one of his most powerful Personae? That Geass had definitely helped.

Lelouch was instead bewildered by the presence behind Minato. Orpheus was robot like, his arms, legs and torso metal. His black face seemed to be organic though, with near white hair on his head and piercing red eyes on it. His mouth seemed to be covered over by a scarf though. And behind the being, he could see a lyre. It was a fairly large one, but a lyre nonetheless.

Orpheus Telos disappeared in the blue mist that it came from, and back into the recesses of Minato's mind. "Was that… one of your Personae?" Lelouch asked.

Minato nodded. "Yeah. That was Orpheus Telos. He's one of my most powerful. And just for the record…" He grinned. "That Geass definitely worked. I couldn't summon my Personae before."

Lelouch was amazed. A smirk soon crawled across his face. With this it would be ever easier to conquer Britannia for sure…

Minato had a smile on as he thought about how much easier it would be to help Lelouch, his friend now. Of course… he was also thinking about the many Knightmares that would be trashed once he came onto the battlefield, and chuckled lightly.

Throughout this whole talk, C2 had been watching them. She was amazed at Minato's powers. That… man had certainly held a great amount of power inside him. No doubt that his new contractor's actions would be very interesting to watch. And she would also comply with whatever Lelouch commanded. After all… they were accomplices.

"We've been ignoring someone for a bit… But now that we're done we can talk… C2." Minato smiled slightly at said green haired girl.

"Hm yes… I was rather hurt that you two had been ignoring me for that long." C2 drawled. That didn't mean she couldn't be annoying though.

"Milady you wound me." Minato put on a fake hurt expression.

Lelouch? He slapped his head. "So… you obviously aren't going to leave us are you?" He asked in an exasperated tone.

"No." C2 stated bluntly.

Lelouch's eyebrow twitched before he walked out of the room to look after Nunnally. Minato watched and say himself on the bed as he left.

"So… what are you doing?" Minato smiled sweetly at C2.

"What are you doing?" C2 countered with a sly grin.

"I think you and I will get along just fine…" Minato smirked.

"Yes…" C2 pecked him on the cheek. "I think so as well."

Minato's eyebrow rose from the gesture. This time he wasn't so sure whether or not that was supposed to annoy him. Perhaps he was just so hardened from the girls who had tried to get with him before that he just didn't care anymore. And that was why C2 was surprised when he didn't react in a disgusted way.

"Was that supposed to annoy me?" Minato asked bluntly.

"So it didn't work?" C2 replied smoothly.

Minato chuckled before returning it. "Quite on the contrary."

* * *

Unknown to Lelouch, Minato and C2 had left his room and were heading towards the other side of the school. With Minato's pretty much inhuman speed, no-one would know what just passed them.

"Big brother, look at this!" Nunnally held out a pink folded crane.

Lelouch eyed it with piqued interest. It really was a beautiful bird… And it certainly was reminding him of the sign that had appeared on C2's forehead before when she was giving him his Geass. "It looks beautiful Nunnally." Lelouch smiled.

"Yeah! Sayoko taught me how to make it!" Nunnally gestured to the ninja maid that was bringing the both of them a teapot and teacups.

"It's quite alright lady Nunnally." Sayoko replied with a small smile.

"Origami is so amazing! If you can make the right folds with just a piece of paper, you can make just about anything!" Nunnally took another piece of paper and started to fold it into crane form.

"Did you know Lelouch?" Lelouch looked curiously at his sister. "They say that if you're able to make a thousand of these cranes, you'll be able to make a wish."

Lelouch smiled at Nunnally. "And what would you like to wish for Nunnally?" He took a small sip of his tea.

"Hm… I'm just happy being with you brother… but if I did have to wish for something, it would be for the world to be a gentler place…" Nunnally replied with a small smile.

Lelouch smiled wistfully at his sister. That's the kind of girl she is. She would wish for something like that… Lelouch was boiling over his old emotions, and they were starting to stir up again. His father would pay… After what had happened so many years ago at Aeries Villa, he would never be able to forgive the person who orchestrated the attack on his mother who died during the attack. Especially because of her sister who was crippled in it, who had her sight taken.

That person would pay, and Charles… his father would pay for not protecting the both of them.

"I see," Lelouch smiled at his sister, but was surprised by the pinky finger that she was holding up. "What's this?"

"Sayoko said that this was a way of making promises! Can you promise me something?" Nunnally asked.

"What is it?"

"You have to promise that you don't leave me… big brother." Lelouch looked at Nunnally with a sad smile before curling his pinky around hers.

"I promise." He replied.

Nunnally giggled before saying a few words to seal the deal. "Do you really have to poke a thousand needles in my eyes if I don't keep my promise? That would hurt a lot." Lelouch asked jokingly.

"Yup. So you won't break it!" Nunnally laughed.

"Alright…" Lelouch was internally shuddering at the thought of being poked in the eyes with needles a thousand times.

* * *

"Minato… what happened to you?" Lelouch looked at his friend with a sceptical look.

Minato had the most unkempt hair he had ever seen, and he hadn't even finished dressing up yet. Not to mention that he looked pretty happy, despite being so tired. "C2 happened." He stated simply, still donning a sheepish grin.

"What," Lelouch could only state, not knowing what to think of the many implications that came about as he combined the information. "Really."

"I knew I was charming but I didn't think that would happen so quickly." Minato tried to rub his hair back into its usual style.

"How long did that last?" Lelouch asked jokingly, and with a slight scowl.

"A few hours I think." Minato looked up to the ceiling.

"He's older than you think." C2 had finally gotten dressed in some clothes, and she had the slyest smile playing on her lips.

"And that escalated quickly. Really quick." Minato deadpanned at C2.

Lelouch only slapped his head, until he remembered what C2 just said. 'He's older than you think?' What does that mean? "Wait, older than he looks?"

Minato stopped talking with C2 before freezing up at looking at Lelouch with a hurt expression. It wasn't something Minato wanted to remember. The screams and that combined pain whenever Erebus knocked against the seal to keep Nyx away… Those damned screams echoed in his head, and the roars of that monster wouldn't stop ringing in his head… Not to mention the wrenching in his heart when he thought about his friends who he would never see again… Being so far ahead in the future, they would all be gone, and the only semblance that he would have of them were their Personae that were residing in the depths of his soul.

"Not now." Minato growled, not only at Lelouch but at C2 for even mentioning that. He was hoping that Lelouch wouldn't ask about it.

C2 knew that she had struck a nerve after a night of trying to annoy him, but she didn't imagine that saying that would make him react that way. Was there something more to what he said last night that covered up something even worse?

Lelouch didn't know why Minato was reacting like this, but he made a mental note to try and make Minato tell him about it later. There were a great many things that had changed about Minato, and it was mostly concerning his personality. He wasn't quite sure what to think of the new personality that he had. Was his cheerfulness all a façade?

"We better get to class." Minato stated with a clipped tone as he left.

Lelouch nodded dumbly as he left the room, and C2 merely looked at Minato curiously before falling back onto his ruffled bed.

* * *

Kallen was trying to figure out what had happened at Shinjuku. That mysterious voice that had come through on the radio had certainly saved them, but after some time no more commands had come through. At least after that, they were able to make their escape as the forces were called off.

What she wasn't expecting as she was eating her sandwich was to hear cursing and mumblings in Japanese. Especially at school. Who was it?

Minato was still busy thinking about what happened this morning, and he was even muttering curses in his native tongue. That was how distraught he was about the whole thing, and how much he didn't want others to hear what he was actually saying. Unbeknownst to him, Kallen was watching him as he walked by.

"Are you ok?" Kallen asked the angry teen in Japanese.

Minato's eyes widened as he saw Kallen staring at him, realising that she must have been watching him curse and complain. "Uh… sorry…" Minato rubbed the back of his head. Did she hear what he was actually saying?

"I asked if you were ok, not for an apology." She said quite forcefully, slipping back into her real personality. She realised this and tried to correct herself, but was stopped short by Minato.

"Hey, you're Kallen right?" Minato had definitely remembered seeing her on the truck he was trapped in yesterday.

"Uh… yeah…" She replied meekly, going back to her weak façade at school.

"You can drop the act. I know what you are, and it doesn't matter to me. I think you may be just the person I'm looking for even." Minato smirked.

Kallen tensed up and growled at Minato when she heard her words, rounding her fingers around the pocket knife in her purse. Minato just kept on grinning, and didn't move, unperturbed by what he knew she was going to do if she made a wrong move. He would have liked to see her try, but he wanted to avoid as much attention as possible. It's a good thing Lelouch and Minato discussed this beforehand, he mused.

"Hey don't get your panties in a wad. I'm a friend of that mysterious voice that you heard down in the Shinjuku ghetto." He smiled darkly at Kallen. Kallen wasn't letting go of her grip on her knife, but she wasn't as tensed. No. From that smile and look that Minato was giving, she was afraid of him. The opposing aura he was giving off was pushing her towards the pillar; an invisible force.

"What do you want?" Kallen managed to get out.

"Look. That mysterious voice just wants to meet up with your rebel group. He was quite impressed, and it just so happens that your group and he share the same interests." Minato explained calmly, with that same darkness still crossing his face. "He wants you all to meet him at the Tokyo Tower at four pm, sharp. It would be best if you brought a few trusted others in your group."

"…Fine." Kallen conceded.

Minato threw her a phone. "He'll probably contact you through that sometime." Minato began to walk off, but he stopped after a few steps. He had remembered what he was going to say to Kallen before seeing that she was one of the terrorists.

"And… yeah. I'm fine." Minato smiled before walking off, leaving a confused Kallen behind.

"Um… ok…" Kallen replied meekly, slipping back into her student persona.

Looks like this mission was successful. And it was a good thing that Lelouch made Kallen his queen… she is pretty cute, Minato mused with a smile and a chuckle.

* * *

Lelouch was busy slipping his new costume… for lack of a better term, and his finishing touch was just about done. His mask, with Geass proof glass and voice modulator. Minato was just going to go as himself, seeing as nothing was going to faze him, and because it would give the rebels more of a bond of trust to go on. C2 wasn't bothered to go this time, choosing to sit around in Minato's room and order excessive amounts of pizza. "I don't know how Minato can put up with that woman." He muttered to himself.

"That's because we're pretty similar." Minato smiled at Lelouch.

"What do you mean?" Lelouch asked with a scowl.

"We're both good at annoying you." Minato smirked.

"How did I not see that before?" Lelouch asked himself. "And it seems you two are having an abundance of fun times with each other." He quipped.

"I still haven't figured out whether we're friends or friends with benefits." Minato rubbed the back of his head.

Lelouch merely rolled his eyes before setting off for the monorail where he was planning to meet the rebel team, while Minato raced to the Tokyo Tower at top speeds. Plus a Sukukaja spell.

* * *

Kallen had gotten to the tower with five minutes to spare. "If he doesn't come in five minutes, we're all going. And if he does show up after that I'll kill him." She muttered.

"Hello there." Minato called out from behind her.

"Oh. It's you." Kallen replied with a hint of disdain.

"Oh yeah. I didn't introduce myself did I?" Minato smiled, completely ignoring the negative tone behind her words. "At school, I'm Minatos Aristo. Other times, I'm Arisato Minato."

"So you are Japanese…" Kallen mused. "So… where is our benefactor?"

"Hm…" Minato looked around before a ringtone came from Kallen's purse, which contained the phone that he had given her earlier.

"I need you to get on the next train on the Toei-Shinjuku line." The tone of the call was clipped, and was cut off as quickly as his tone.

"What was that?" Kallen asked with a disbelieving tone.

"He's…" Minato slapped his head. "This is why I like annoying him. I think you guys better go though."

"Who is this Kallen?" Ohgi approached Kallen from behind.

"Um…" Kallen was about to explain, but Minato held a hand to stop her there.

"I can explain while we get there. But for now, I can tell you my name's Arisato Minato." He grinned.

All that was left for this to work would be for Minato to put in some good… or bad… words for him. Knowing how Minato seemed to be, he would probably say that he was annoying. Lelouch sighed heavily, but returned to position after he saw on his radar that they were about to enter his carriage, and put on his mask so that they couldn't see.

"So, how did you like the view on the way here?" Lelouch asked with a solemn tone. "What did you see on your right?"

Ohgi replied, "We saw the city… and the ghettoes."

Minato made his way over to Lelouch's side. "The city, now inhabited by the Britannian scum, controlling and moulding the shape of it. A place where everything seems fine, but the underlying fact is that most of the honorary Britannians are mistreated and treated like dirt."

"Why whould we care about those traitors?" Tamaki glared Lelouch.

"You mean you wouldn't care if those people were pregnant women or men with families that they have to take care of?" Minato glared back, releasing Thanatos' threatening killing intent and pushing back everyone in the vicinity. Even Lelouch was pushed back by the overwhelming force, and it wasn't even directed at him at all.

Tamaki knew that it was time to shut up.

"Not to mention the ghettoes, in horrible living conditions where Japanese outcasts struggle to survive…" Lelouch continued after a lengthy silence. "You want that all to change… right?"

The rebel group nodded with determined expressions.

"It seems we'll get along just fine. Minato and I have seen your group's motives and we wish to help those come true." Lelouch replied coolly, smirking underneath his mask. "We can help you take back Japan… and perhaps we can even destroy the Britannian Empire while we're at it."

Kallen's eyes widened comically before she was able to regain her voice. "Us, taking down the Britannian Empire? Do you really think you can help us do that?"

"Of course. After all, I am Zero the man of miracles." Lelouch revealed with a great amount of flair and dramatics.

Minato? He was slapping his head in disappointment. Not in the script Lelouch. Not in the script.

* * *

AN: Hope you like this chapter… for whatever reasons.

But yes, I did blatantly pair Minato up with C2. But they're nothing more than friends or FWBs for now, and no I'm not going to upgrade this to M rating since I can't write lemons for shit. Anyways…

Right now I feel like I gave an *ok* reason for Minato being able to summon in the real world. After the logic from the first two games… I think if I did that it would help. Besides, experimenting with Suzaku's Geass command could make this pretty interesting.

Please tell me on what I can improve, whether I should focus more on their thoughts or description, maybe capturing another character's personality better, whatever! I'm still not as confident with third person, so please!

Plz review and no flames!


	4. From Zero, Ashes And The Phoenix Rising

Suzaku had not been at his best for the past few days. Especially since now he had been framed for a murder that he had never committed. Heck, even such an act was unthinkable to him. Especially if it was someone of the Royal Family.

However…

Jeremiah was becoming angry right now. They weren't able to find the person that killed Clovis, and if they couldn't find him then the masses would be in utter furore. And now their scapegoat, Suzaku, wasn't cooperating. Well…

"Is this your gun?" Jeremiah presented the gun, sealed within a plastic bag to preserve its fingerprints.

"No! I've never seen that gun before in my life!" Suzaku responded, but was duly cut off by a guard kicking his chair. Suzaku fell on the ground and sustained several bruises from that.

"Let me ask you again, is this your gun? It does have your fingerprints on it," Jeremiah pressed once more.

* * *

Lloyd had been getting worried about the fact that Suzaku was being accused of the murder of Prince Clovis. There was probably no-one else that would be able to command the Lancelot as well as Suzaku could, and now anymore straggling candidates from the Eleven's side wouldn't be there because now that Jeremiah was insisting that there would be no more Elevens ever joining the military.

Oh, the humanity of all this. No more test subjects…

"Are you really sure that we can't do anything at all, Lloyd?" Cecile asked with a worried tone. It was not a worried tone in the fact that they would never be able to have their pilot for the Lancelot if this ever went ahead, but a tone that expressed more genuine concern for the wellbeing of Suzaku, which was currently being threatened by Jeremiah.

"Unfortunately so…" Lloyd said solemnly.

* * *

"Big brother… do you think Suzaku will be okay?" Nunnally asked Lelouch with a worried expression. Even without looking to her eyes, it was clear to see the anxiety that she had for her childhood friend.

"Yeah… he couldn't possibly do something like this," Lelouch furrowed his brow as he said that. There was just another thing on his mind, and it was the fact that they must have been using Suzaku for something. This he knew for sure, because it was Minato and he that killed Clovis. They must've been using him as a scapegoat. This fact alone was making him extremely angry. "The military just have a mistake," he sighed, squeezing Nunnally's hand reassuringly.

"Yeah… Suzaku wouldn't do something like this. He'll be innocent!" Nunnally said with determination and absolute sureness.

Of course, Lelouch had wished that this would be true. But him, knowing Britannia and their methods knew that Suzaku wasn't going to just get off this easily. Lelouch knew that they were setting Suzaku up for something, probably to discourage or even just ban honorary Britannians from joining the military altogether. Couple the fact that Suzaku was an honorary Britannian with the fact that he was the son of the late Genbu Kururugi, the past leader of Japan… Innocent or not, he was going to be guilty.

With the thoughts of his friend and his ulterior motives on his mind, he had decided on the Black Knights' first mission. Now…

* * *

"C2, I know that you take utter pleasure in annoying people to their wits' end… but that does not mean that you use personally relevant information to do something like that," Minato growled. "One, if you try that on me even your immortality isn't going to help you when I'm about to kill you. Two, it ruins the game."

"Game?" C2 asked with a sigh.

"Yeah. I don't use personal information in order to annoy people… That's the little game I play with Lelouch," he smirked. "I annoy him sometimes, but not using stuff like traumatic history or what have you. That's just not cool. At all."

"Oh, I see… so if I really want to try and annoy you, I have to play on your personality instead and what happens to you?" C2 said.

"Yup, that's how it works," Minato grinned. "Well… try it on me now. See if I get annoyed."

After a few seconds, C2 had a devilish smirk on her face and a mischievous glint in her eye. She began to sing, and Minato immediately covered his ears to avoid the sounds.

After that cacophony of sound had ended, Minato was charging a Megidolaon spell in his hand.

* * *

"Not all of us are born equal…" Charles Zi Britannia's voice was booming in the hall of Ashford academy.

Lelouch was gritting his teeth at the sight of his so called 'father'. The words that the emperor was spewing were quickly boiling Lelouch's anger up, and it was taking a lot of effort on the banished prince's part to keep it down. If not for Minato's contagious coolness, he probably would have been a lot more distraught about this situation right now.

Minato sighed inwardly. It was oppressive and forceful thinking like this that meant people were more likely to want the world to just end. Utterly, and in a mass of Shadows. However, Minato knew better than to get frustrated at people like the emperor… All too well. The last time that he had let his anger out on someone that he absolutely hated more happened than just the death of one person.

"Come on Lelouch," Minato sighed as the speech ended. "We have better things to do."

"Yes… we do," Lelouch nodded sternly, although his expression was that of a smirk.

"Yeah. Now let's go," Minato as best as he could, leading the way out of Clovis' funeral.

* * *

Jeremiah was speaking to a reporter named Diethard Ried. "Yes, I do think that the funeral was prepared well in advance," Diethard replied.

Jeremiah nodded sternly at that. He had a recent rise in status, and so even his funeral was going to be prepared if he ever died. "Yes. Now… what we need is preparations for moving Suzaku Kururugi to the court martial. I believe it would be best to line the streets with as many loyal Britannian citizens as we can find."

"I think that would be best as well," Diethard nodded.

"I think it would be best to be wary, Lord Jeremiah. Many of those Elevens see Suzaku Kururugi as a hero. There is a chance that they may rebel," Viletta advised Jeremiah.

"Hmph. If there are any that dare to attack, I will see to it personally that they be executed," Jeremiah smirked.

* * *

"Lelouch, I know that you like to make everything flashy and stuff," Minato began, although Lelouch groaned at what he just said. "But I just have one request when we make our appearance to rescue that Suzaku friend of yours…"

"What is it?" Lelouch asked. Though… he wasn't fully convinced that what Minato was going to say was actually going to be serious. He almost never was.

Minato handed him a piece of paper with a few drawings and notes scrawled on it. "Is it possible that you could make that my uniform?"

"Why?" Lelouch asked. Well, luckily for him it wasn't anything too drastic.

Minato smirked a little at that. "I'll tell you about it later, but just know that if you do this for me… I won't try to annoy you for a week."

Lelouch's eyes widened at that. "I'll be right on it!" With that one sentence, Lelouch was off to command a tailor to make it for him.

Minato chuckled to himself as Lelouch ran off. Though, there was a good reason why he wanted him to do this despite the way that he made Lelouch do it and how nonchalant he sounded about it. It was because he was currently stuck in a wave of nostalgia as he remembered his times with SEES, and he kinda wanted his uniform back. Who knows? Maybe he would perform better with a higher morale?

* * *

It was the night of Suzaku's court martial. The street where Suzaku was passing through was filled to the brim with Britannians, filled with their jeering and cheering. Suzaku was forced to wear a collar around his neck that zapped him whenever he would try to speak.

Diethard sighed heavily. This event was alright, but there was nothing well and truly interesting happening. He had been requested by Lord Jeremiah to film the whole event, so he couldn't really refuse. Well… here was to a good evening for everyone.

Jeremiah was walking proudly in his Knightmare, making sure of his earlier promise to Viletta. No-one would interfere.

Of course, when the right people do, it will be in an awesome and flashy manner.

A convoy much like the ones that Prince Clovis rode in before his death was coming down the path where Suzaku was being moved, and stopped in the middle of the road. Kallen however was very nervous. Not many of the members of their rebel group really wanted to come, aside from Ohgi and some few others as they didn't trust Zero a lot. Although, a few more did come from an urging from Minato. At least he didn't wear a mask all the time.

She began to remember the conversation that they had with Zero and Minato.

"You can't really be serious about this mission! This is a near suicide mission, and there's only a really slim chance that this would work. And this is assuming that we are able to all survive," one of the rebel members growled.

Zero merely replied, "We have the resources to do so. If you follow me, you can be sure that this mission is a success."

The members looked around uncertainly before Minato cut in with a stern expression. "Come on. I'm sure you've faced some pretty bad situations before this. What's another? Besides, you guys have me around… Zero's secret weapon."

Kallen really didn't know what Minato meant by being Zero's secret weapon, but she figured that it would be something that she could ask Minato later. The next question she probably should have been asking is when and how Minato wormed his way in to be so much more familiar with all of them.

Minato probably would have just said that it was his uncanny amount of charm. Which was actually pretty true… He was indeed the charismatic, genius badass of Gekkoukan back in the day, and not just at school. Minato chuckled. This was going to be an interesting mission for all of them.

Lelouch had been testing his Geass powers on several people to see their effects, and he had garnered several results so far. This was mostly an urging on Minato's part since he had kept saying that if he went into all of this without much of an idea on his new powers they would be at a severe disadvantage if they messed up somehow or didn't work for any reason.

It might not have been easy to see, but Minato was actually careful about what he did a lot of the time. He could point out errors in Lelouch's plans when he found them and make them near flawless. If he needed to that is. Any brute force encounter with Minato now that he had his Personae powers more pronounced would be a death wish.

The emblem that was at the top of the convoy burned away to reveal two masked figures. The first one on the left was someone with a black mask and a dark blue cape with violet clothing underneath. This was Lelouch.

The second on the right was Minato, and he was wearing what appeared to be a kind of school uniform but not any kind that any person from that time would have recognised. He was wearing a long sleeved shirt underneath a dark grey, double breasted blazer, with same coloured pants to match. His mask was only a dark blue visor, but it was enough that no-one would have seen his recognisable, cyan eyes. His blue hair he could leave out as there were a few other Britannians who had such hair.

In any case, this was one strange pair. Everyone's thoughts were echoed in the crowd as 'who are these people'?

Knightmares began to surround the car. Kallen was quickly becoming a little anxious as to the situation, though Lelouch and Minato stood tall. Lelouch, through sheer charisma and the knowledge that this was going to go to plan. Minato had withstood and persevered through much more dangerous and frightening situations than this one.

Lelouch merely snapped his fingers and at the back of the vehicle the container which C2 was sealed within before. The people were in an uproar, still believing it to contain poisonous gas. Lelouch grinned under his mask. "Everyone in the vicinity will be exposed to the toxic gas within this, if you do not listen to my proposal," he exclaimed, grabbing Jeremiah's attention.

Diethard however was becoming excited now that these two mysterious characters had appeared. No-one around him was brave enough to catch a glimpse of the two that had emerged, and so he took it upon himself and ran up to the convoy to get a better view of Minato and Lelouch.

"My proposal is simple," Lelouch began. "A trade if you will."

Jeremiah would have right out refused already, however the lives of several civilians and soldiers were at stake. "What is it?"

"What we want is to exchange Suzaku Kururugi for that gas container. Do that and we'll leave quietly," Minato replied.

"No," Jeremiah replied bluntly.

Lelouch had thought this would happen. They couldn't just suddenly give up their prisoner like this and on short notice. Not to mention that it would tarnish this Britannian soldier's reputation heavily. Well… it was Minato's cue.

"Well, I have something good to announce. The killer of Prince Clovis is me, Phoenix!" Minato shouted with a condescending smirk. "Not Suzaku Kururugi."

Lelouch actually had the urge to just facepalm right there. And he was overdramatic? "Along with I, Zero!"

At the mention of his name, Suzaku shot his head up to get an eye on the form of the murderer of Prince Clovis. He was the one that killed Clovis…

If the masses weren't in an utter furore then, it was now.

"Yes… and if you don't want anything about Orange getting out you will hand over Suzaku to us," Lelouch continued. Jeremiah looked at the duo with an expression close to confusion and anger. What were they talking about?

Even if Jeremiah didn't actually know what Zero was talking about, the crowd of Britannians were starting to think from the way that Zero said it, that this 'Orange' was some kind of scandal.

It was at this moment that Lelouch opened up a slot in his mask, the Geass in his eye activated. At the same time, Minato released a huge wave of killing intent that froze everyone in the vicinity. It was so intense, even Lelouch, who wasn't the target of the killing intent, had actually shivered from the pressure passing over him.

"Now, hand over Suzaku Kururugi to me, Gottwald," Lelouch commanded.

The Geass was now planted in Jeremiah's mind and people could only watch as he released Suzaku from his confines. With no-one able to really move, Minato jumped down from the convoy and grabbed Suzaku.

Minato had held out that killing intent for as long as he could, and now with the intense pressure gone everyone was able to move again. "Don't move Suzaku," Minato growled into his ear as he put him down and whispered, "Persona."

With that one word, a haze of blue mist materialised behind Minato. From it, the personification of Death itself had appeared as Thanatos. Even Lelouch himself was surprised by how crushing the atmosphere Thanatos exuded. Suzaku stared up in horror at the Greek God, scared stiff by it.

It was only Minato that wasn't scared. "Crush them!" he commanded, and with one fell swipe from Thanatos' blade the Knightmares that were sent to attack the convoy were decimated into clean halves.

The death God let out a primal roar before dissipating back into blue shards of glass and mist, the terrifying sound now imprinted into every mind that had ever heard it. Minato took a deep breath and fell to his knees. He hadn't been expecting that drain of SP and was tired out from that ordeal. But the good news was that his job was over.

"Remember, we are the Black Knights!" Zero called before they escaped.

In the aftermath of the event, most forces that were sent after the Black Knights were cut down by the Black Knights' Sutherland Knightmare frames. Their first mission had gone perfectly, if not accounting for Minato's sudden loss of power. By definition, a work of sorcery, or dare they say a miracle had occurred.

Now all that was left was Suzaku and Minato.

After some rest, Minato had finally recovered from summoning Thanatos. He was still surprised by the amount of power that had been drained from him when he summoned him, especially when Orpheus Telos and Messiah were much, much easier to summon. Minato groaned as he woke up from his nap, finding Lelouch in his guise of Zero.

"Are you alright?" Lelouch asked.

"Y-Yeah…" Minato sighed. "I don't know what happened, but for some reason it was so much harder for me to summon that one Persona."

"Well, I think this warrants some more fine tuning then," Lelouch said quietly. "We can't have this happen all the time, especially when we really do need that one Persona. Speaking of which, isn't Thanatos one of the Gods of death?"

"Yeah…" Minato nodded. "But I think I can tell you about this later when we sort out Suzaku-san."

"I think that would be wise. I don't want to keep this question waiting," Lelouch agreed. "Send him in," he commanded.

With that, Suzaku had been moved into their temporary stay, courtesy of Ohgi. "I see you're fine," Zero said coolly.

"Yes… but why did you get me out of there?" Suzaku asked bluntly.

"Ah, yes… We did this as it would earn our group more of a positive reputation among the Japanese and because we have a question to ask of you," Zero replied.

"What is it?" Suzaku asked slowly after he thought about what Lelouch had said.

"We were going to ask you whether you wanted to join the Black Knights," Zero looked at Suzaku.

After a few moments of silence and deliberation, Suzaku answered with, "No."

"Why not?" Lelouch asked, trying to keep his rising anger down.

"Because I have a court martial to go to… and I couldn't possibly join the Black Knights," Suzaku said, attempting to keep some of his disdain out of his voice.

"Yes, go to the losing battle," Minato growled silently, his hand clenched around the edge of his visor. "Because that's the smart thing to do."

"I know it's not smart, but I'm going to follow the rules. That's all," Suzaku replied.

"That's nice," Minato drawled sarcastically.

Lelouch though was attempting to keep his annoyance under wraps. The nuisance that was Minato's annoyingness wasn't even directed at him and he was beginning to get irritated. He was already not very happy with the way that Suzaku's attitude was.

Suzaku's eyebrow was twitching right now. This other Phoenix guy was starting to get on his nerves, especially with the way that he was belittling his ambitions. How the hell was he able to do that?

On the flipside, Minato actually had Nekomata switched to the forefront of his mind. That might've explained why his words seemed a lot more annoying than usual. If he had said so normally his words probably would have come off as just sarcastic.

Suzaku was busy trying to think of a response to Minato, but said person interrupted his train of thought. "Why don't you explain to me in detail why you're doing this before I erupt in total fury and anger at your stupidity?" Minato smirked.

Lelouch blinked once or twice before turning a different direction. He didn't want to let either of them know that he was actually stifling some chuckles at Suzaku's reaction and Minato's words.

Suzaku growled under his breath before replying with, "Because I want to free Japan and the rest of the world from Britannia's tyrannic rule."

"Well, that's one thing we can all agree on," Minato muttered, though it was said loud enough for them to hear. On purpose. Again. "I see… but what's so bad about joining the Black Knights? We have the same goal."

"Because, the way that you're doing it is something I cannot stand by. The end can't possibly justify the means, if you're going to be committing crimes and killing people in the process," Suzaku replied with a bit of a grimace.

"Hm… wakarimashita," Minato slipped into Japanese, surprising Suzaku. "I see what you're getting at, but it's pointless."

"What are you saying?" Suzaku said.

"Think about it. Britannia has been at this for who knows how long and have maintained their hold on out world for the longest time. What makes you think that an insignificant Japanese person, a single one especially, will be able to change an empire like that?" Minato asked.

Suzaku couldn't exactly say anything to that question, but he was still holding on strong to what he was believed in. Maybe it was just his stubbornness and guilt kicking in.

"Well… why don't you think about it at least, for a bit longer? With a force like me on the Black Knights' side, Britannia's gonna have a hard time even handling me," Minato smirked under his visor.

Lelouch sighed at that statement. "Yes, yes… just stroke your own ego," he muttered. "But yes, as Phoenix said you should think about it more and his… enlightening words."

Minato merely chuckled at that. Oh, stabs between friends were always fun. "Besides, if you join I think the both of us will be great friends!" he laughed, hooking his arm around Suzaku's neck.

There was only one thing on Suzaku's mind: What the heck have I gotten into?

* * *

AN: OMG I ACTUALLY UPDATED IT? Yeah, I know I took a hella long time to get around to writing this but NTL was taking up more of my time. It IS my main fic so… Anyways, I can't promise that I'll update this soon again but it'll be happy days for me and for you if I do!

I hope you liked the debut of the Black Knights! And before you ask why I named Minato's alter ego as 'Phoenix' it was because: One, take the end of 'phoenix' and you get 'nix'. I believe I've proven a bit of a point there… Two, because I've been listening to waaaaay too much Fall Out Boy. PHOENIX, WHOOOOOO!

I still hope you guys like this chapter though... I spent more time on it than usual since I had a bit of trouble diverting from the original episode summary and I had to fill in a lot of the blanks myself from memory. (Which admittedly isn't very good...) Not to mention Minato's reactions and feelings. Though, I really do like writing his character it's a bit hard to figure out when he should be more serious and when he's... not so serious. XD Meh, tell me what you think if you review!

Anyways, I'll see you guys again when I somehow update this! Sayoonara for now~!


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